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Home / IT&Software / Netflix adds 'Smart Downloads' to delete watched videos, then download the next

Netflix adds 'Smart Downloads' to delete watched videos, then download the next

Posted on Wednesday, July 11, 2018 by Gina Adkins

Above Netflix Downloads Image Credit Paul Sawers VentureBeat

"You watch, we do the work", summed up the post, which is attributed to Cameron Johnson, Director of Product Innovation.

The Netflix app allows users to download TV shows and movies manually, so they can be watched during offline viewing. After all, you might not want to disconnect from that Wi-Fi network before your next episode is done.

Netflix has unveiled a new feature today that will help you better manage your downloaded TV series. "Today, downloads is a manual process - you have to download [TV episodes] one at a time, then delete them". Now, the streaming service has announced a new feature that makes downloading episodes a lot smarter.

Currently, Smart Downloads only works on Android phones and tablets. The company provides a brief guide on the smart downloads feature and how to use it here. The new feature isn't available for iOS devices yet, but Netflix says that it might be added sometime later this year. The feature is triggered when you download an episode or two of a TV show that you're now watching. So a user with the first three episodes of a show downloaded will have the first deleted and the fourth installed after watching the initial content.

"Even though we have a great personalization system, we don't know what's the next movie you're going to want to watch", he said.

You download Season 1, Episodes 1-3.

Smart downloads will only queue up shows you've already downloaded in the past - it won't randomly download a suggested show, thankfully - and the automatic deletion of old episodes will free up space on your device.